Dutch finally succeed with eights victory

ROWING

Lake Lanier, at the end, turned a brighter shade of orange as the Dutch eight which has shadowed the leaders, winning silver medals for the past two years, finally converted the effort and detail of preparation into gold, winning the men's eights by nearly a length from Germany and Russia.

The Romanians took the women's eight while the Great Britain crew, which had come here with at least a place in the final in mind, had to make do with a convincing seventh place, winning the petite final by almost a length from Germany.

The race of the championships came in the men's single sculls when Xeno Muller of Switzerland came up from fourth place at halfway with the most devastating drive for the line that the singles has seen since Pertii Karpinen in 1976. Muller, who had been about to marry and take US citizenship, said later he will stay a Swiss until 2000.

Sixteen countries took medals with Canada and Australia at the head of the table with six each. The debut for lightweight crews did not result in serious entries from the south-east Asian countries that were supposed to benefit, with Romania winning the women's double and Switzerland and Denmark taking the men's double and four.

The British men's eight finished a length behind the Romanians in eighth position, but lost the chance of a final place in a desperate sprint with the Russians, who came through in the same fashion to take the bronze in the final.

The British men's lightweight squad has been one of the strongest groups over the last 20 years. The two crews, a four and double scull, finished 10th and 12th. There is plenty of talent in the British squad - but neither crew fulfilled their potential.

Redgrave's triumph, page 24